FEATURE

FOUR AW17 HAIRSTYLES

By Sam Higgins, 6 February 2017

London, Milan, Paris, New York – we’ve been around the world in 30 days, clocking the biggest AW17 trends and capturing the stylish show-goers in the process. But aside from the future fashion, the menswear circuit’s bi-annual showing also boasts a healthy cut of hairstyle inspiration. According to the designers, these are the four styles that we will be asking for come next winter.

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The middle parting

First up, like much of the fashion world recently, we look to the 90s for inspiration. In this case, the hairstyle in question is the iconic centre-parting. Remember Beckham glancing down the right wing, curtains bouncing gracefully as he skipped past defenders? Or Leo DiCaprio’s floppy locks in Titanic?

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That’s the muse for next season’s medium-length crops – albeit in most cases, a more subtle parting – with designers like Patrik Ervell and JW Anderson adopting the mid-90s trim to match their throwback gear.

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The messy curls

The schoolboy styling of slapping on the freeze gel to lock your curls into sharp spikes has petered out. Now, it’s all about leaving your naturally wavy hair free to explore your head as it wishes. Of course, the bedhead look is nothing new, but this fresh twist on unkempt styling brings a laid-back feel to complement any level of outfit formality.

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Oliver Spencer’s London Fashion Week showcase demonstrated how a messy crop won’t compromise your neatness while, in Milan, Prada offered similar advice with its models boasting curls that were given only gentle encouragement as to which direction to sit.

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The soft crop

Now, not everyone is blessed with flowing curls or shoulder-length hair that’s easy adaptable into several styles. Lucky then, that a soft, short crop popped up everywhere in the AW17 shows. A little longer than a mandatory military buzzcut, this timeless trim offers a consistent look that needs little-to-no upkeep.

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At Sibling’s presentation, alongside bright bold colours and statement prints, this simple style provided a neat finish to each ‘fit. Similarly, over in New York at Raf Simons’ debut showing, hair was kept at a minimum to leave all focus on his proportion-defying garms. If it’s good enough for Raf, it’s good enough for us.

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The slick back

Don’t throw out your wax just yet – although it may seem like next winter will be all about natural hair, the refined slicked-back style is planning on sticking around too. Perfect for more formal ‘fits, the product-heavy look aims to take your barnet down in size, tightening up any loose hair and crafting the main body of the cut into a sharp shape.

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This is exactly what Casely-Hayford offered, bringing a wet-look finish to complement smarter steez. Likewise, in Italy, the Marni catwalk saw longer styles pushed back – taking the weight out of the top and providing a slick finish.